


In the Dark

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 04:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7251478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been a long, long day, but Rodney struggled stubbornly back toward consciousness, knowing that if he didn’t stay awake, John would never bring this up again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ community "mcsheplets" prompt #230 "dark"

Rodney was almost asleep when he heard John whisper, “Hey,” more a breath than an actual word.

It had been a long, long day, but Rodney struggled stubbornly back toward consciousness, knowing that if he didn’t stay awake, John would never bring this up again.

John was curled up against Rodney’s right side, so he couldn’t see John’s face, but the stiff curve of John’s spine beneath his fingers gave Rodney the idea that whatever John was struggling to say, it wouldn’t be fun.

“Hey what?” he whispered back, spreading his hand along John’s vertebrae in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.

It must have been, because John relaxed, just a little, under his touch. “Six of my people are dead,” said John, in a flat voice.

“Yes, they are,” Rodney said. It wouldn’t help for him to sugarcoat anything, and even though two of the casualties had been scientists, according to Sheppard Logic, every single person on Atlantis was one of John’s people.

“Six,” John repeated. “And I sent them to die.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Rodney snapped. “You had no way of knowing they’d trigger a ten-thousand-year-old Wraith booby trap.”

“I should have known _something_ ,” the colonel insisted. “Because if I had…”

“If you’d known it was probably a suicide mission,” Rodney finished softly, “you’d have gone yourself.”

“Yes,” John admitted, into the quiet darkness of their bedroom.

“And that’s why you’re such a good leader, John,” said Rodney. “The people under your command know how much you care about them, and that’s why they follow you. At least, that’s why _I_ follow you.”

“Rodney…”

“I trust you,” he continued. “Maybe you don’t always make the right choices, but you make the _best_ ones, and if you weren’t sulking right now, I’d even say that to your face.”

Rodney felt the ghost of John’s smile on his bare shoulder, before the pilot tipped his head up, eyes bright in the dark. “Yeah?” he asked, and as Rodney had hoped, the tightness in his voice had vanished.

“You are a good man, John Sheppard,” he said, soft but firm. “And that is one of the many, many reasons I love you.”

“How many?” John asked, leaning up on one elbow to breathe the question against Rodney’s lips.

Rodney kissed him, briefly. “Enough that I agreed to marry you.”

John’s smirk slid into a full-blown smile. “Yes, you did.”

THE END


End file.
